NMR and μSR study of spin correlations in SrZnVO(PO4)2: An S=1/2 frustrated magnet on a square lattice

31P nuclear and muon spin-lattice relaxation-rate measurements in SrZnVO(PO4)2, a S=1/2 frustrated magnet on a square lattice, are presented. The temperature (T) dependence of the in-plane correlation length ξ is derived and it is shown that the overall behavior is analogous to the one found for nonfrustrated systems but with a reduced spin stiffness. The temperature dependence of ξ in SrZnVO(PO4)2 is compared to the one of other frustrated magnets on a square lattice with competing nearest neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) exchange couplings and it is shown that ξ progressively decreases as the ratio J2/J1 approaches the critical value leading to the suppression of long-range magnetic order. In spite of the differences in the functional form of ξ(T) found in different vanadates, it is pointed out that the characteristic energy scale describing spin correlations in all those compounds appears to scale as |2J2+J1|.